An attorney's website...

[DebateGod]

What is the name of your state? Missouri

Hi everyone. I'm in need of some help. My parents home of 16 years was recently foreclosed upon and sold at auction. However, I did some research, found a loophole and went to my attorney, and now (hopefully) the sale will be set aside. Now, my parents and I plan on going after this attorney for fraud, misrepresentation, etc... a whole bunch of stuff for another time and place...

However, my question at hand is this: This attorney's personal website is entitled "Protecting creditors from deadbeats". He handles MANY cases in my state, and I know that he is well-known for his vigor in pursuing these cases. However, my libel/slander question deals with this: are his actions libelous, as he automatically considers that everyone who defaults on a credit payment is a deadbeat? Because in my opinion, having an attorney call my parents deadbeats is quite traumatic to me. The reason is because this lawyer doesn't take into account things like what happened to my family: My father, in August, got laid off from his job of 33 years as a manager of an explosives company. My mother is/was only working a part-time job at a gas station. Now, because of our DIRE economic need, my father took out ALL of his money from his IRA, Savings, and Mutual funds in order to start his own business to attempt to keep his family afloat. I don't consider my father, nor my mother, to be deadbeats, in fact, I consider them model parents who have tried to prove to me that hard work pays off. Then this A-hole goes and claims that people like my parents are deadbeats. Am I just pissed about nothing, or does anyone else share the same view?

Thank you very much!
Eric Crinnian

 

[cbg]

Without having seen the website...

He didn't say that your parents were deadbeats. He said that his practice includes protecting creditors from deadbeats. That's a very different thing. He's not saying that EVERYONE he goes up against is a deadbeat.

But even if he is, I think your parents would have a very hard time making a libel claim based solely on this. They are not named by name, and they have suffered no damages that can be traced directly to the fact that he has this statement on his website.

 

[krispenstpeter]

You have nothing. PERIOD!

 

[mreman]

This is likely the site:

http://www.deadbeatprotection.com/

And no it is not slanderous. Besides, even if he did call your parents deadbeats by name, he has a right to call them that, especially since he is using the term correctly whether you agree with it or not.

dead·beat1 ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ddbt) Slang
n.

1. One who does not pay one's debts.
2. A lazy person; a loafer.

adj.
Not fulfilling one's obligations or paying one's debts

 

[HomeGuru]

No case.....

 

[DebateGod]

Thanks!

Thank you very much for your replies. And also, thank you for the definition of deadbeat... That's something that I didn't know!

 

[HomeGuru]

Yes thanks. I always thought deadbeat was the time Jerrry Garcia played to.

 

[stephenk]

Your parents take all of their savings and investments to start a business, but fail to pay their mortgage? what's up with that?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Your parents take all of their savings and investments to start a business, but fail to pay their mortgage? what's up with that?

My response:

Stephen, it's called being deadbeats. They were just living up to their moniker.

IAAL

 

[stephenk]

obviously they didnt spend money on education for the kids. my 9 year old knew what the term "deadbeat" meant when i asked him.

 

[DebateGod]

Jerk

Look, I didn't post here to have people like you insult me, or question what my parents did. This is supposed to be a forum for someone to ask a question to get an answer, not ask a question and be fired at for it.
However, here are my responses to your comments:
Stephenk: Yes, my parents took their savings and put it toward a business. Reason: my father AFTER LOSING HIS JOB, did this. He did this because he does not have a college education, and was unable to get another job that would pay him a sufficient amount of money to sustain my family. And before you go rattling off about why he didn't get an education (which I can tell is something that you are so fond of) it's because he went into the Navy after he graduated high school, and when he came home, he had a job waiting for him. In addition, he attempted to remediate the problem with the mortgage after they were several payments behind, but because of the law firm that the mortgage company was using, we were unable to get a clear-cut payment requirement until it was too late. (This is another aspect we're investigating at the moment.) My dad only did what was necessary to attempt to keep his family afloat. If I had a choice between attempting to make money to keep what I had, or sit back and spend my savings on my mortage, I'd pick the first.
I AM ALWAYS LIABLE: That's why I was upset to begin with, is the fact that my parents aren't normally deadbeats. They normally pay their bills on time and make their payments, but due to the difficult circumstances, they defaulted.
Stephenk:Yes, actually, you ARE right, they didn't spend it on my education, because I'm getting a full-ride scholarship. I'm really glad that your 9-year old knows what the definition of "deadbeat" was. Apparently that made me stupid because I didn't. However, I didn't know that there was a legitimate definition to the word, I was under the assumption that it was derogatory slang terminology.

In addition, the question was answered and I thanked those who answered it properly.